Motor drive for sewing machines



' June 26, 1923.

H. MAIMIN -MOTOR DRIVE FOR SEWING MACHINES Filed Dec. 29-, 1919 2 Sheets-Shee-t June 26, I923. H. MAIMIN MOTOR DRIVE FOR SEWING MACHINES Filed Deb. 29-

1919 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented nlune Z6, i923.

Err/inn man/rm. on NEW roan, N. Y. o A

MOTOR DRIVE Fora,

SEWING MACHINES.

Application med December 29; 1918. Serial in. 348,027. r

To all whom it may %(76/"7' Be it known that L Lamar? MAJ citizen of the United States resiiihn r New York city, in the county of New York,

State of New .Yorlzhave invented certain cially in the case of machines that are to be run continuously, as in the'garraent industry. In accordance with the usualpractice rhe stats are used in connection with the motors to prevent sudden rushes of current when the motors are started under load and also to permit the speed of the machines to be controlled while they are in operation. The price of a suitable rheosta't is a. substantial part of the total cost of an equipment, and this piece of apparatus is the source oi": most oi. the troubles that arise in connection with motor drives :for sewing machines. The recognition or the disadvantages of rhcostats has led to the production of many arrange ments for dispensing with them, such arrangements being in general basedupon the employment of cmitinuously driven motors which are arranged to be brought into operative relation to the machines WllfillBYGl it-is desired that the latter be driven. In some of these prior arrangements the motors occupy fixed relations to the machines with which they are associated and are connected by belts to l'riction Wheels which are adapted to be swung into engagementwith thehand Wheels of the machines to drive the latter. These arrangements. however. require the use of extra members, and i irsoine vases there are changes in the tension of the driving belts, due to the movement ofthe swing ing members upon which the Friction wheels are carried. To avoid the use oi separate driving;members. arrangements have been proposed in which the niotors are niovahly mounted with respect to the machines which they are to drive and b means 0]: suitable actuatingmechanisms the motors. may be moved bodily to bring; friction Wheels IN; a

IiilaClliHGS by tilt W p p Such anarrangement provides-that" the i speeds atwhiehthe n'iachines shall be driven by the motorswvill under normal conditions mounted onntheir shailts into engagement with the hand Wheels of the machines,

These la t named arrangements possess the f disadvant machines'are driven from the motors depend u iion the jin'essures With which the friction Wheels of the motors are held againstthe hand wheels of the machines. fin these arrangements the motors are moved by mechanisms adapted to be actuated by the feet or knees ofche operatorsand are therefore subject to considerable variations on account of changesun the torceezerted bygthe operators. Inipower drives for sewing machines, particularly in the garment industry,

g e that "the speeds at Which'the the machines should bearranged'so that they;

may be normally operated at predetermined speeds to which theoperators are: requiredto conform in the performance of their part of thenorh. ln prior arrangements :lore'liininating the to above are tact'that the speed of'the machines is'directly under the control of the operators andwlepends upon the effort ex pended by them in holding the motors in of rheostats, such as referredoperative relation to the machines, makes it comparatively for ELSl'OW operator to prevent his machines i roin being driven at the required speed. withth'e 'result that his production will be out down and the 'niotor Will not be operated at its full load.-

Ithas been proposed to mount such ioiiotors pivotally adjacent the hand wheels or driv 'inggpulle s of the sewing inachln'es in such a manner that they: may be thrown into or \vithdrmvn from operative relation to the about their pivots.

rangements of this generalcharacter. The

arrangement does; however permit the operator to c an the speed ofthe machine from will time to e may he requiredybut part Whichrsili n t na' normal condit orally be performed ions of operation,

still Poweranay be transmitted from the 'not'ors; 'to'the machines by means or frictionpulleys alt-erationnecessitates aspecial act on. his} i v wardthe machines, or pulleys onthe shafts or the motors may be connected by belts to pulleys on the shafts of the machlnes, 1n which case the motors will be arranged to fall away from themachines to apply tension to the belts.

For most convenient operation the positions of the motors are controlled by treadles in order that the hands of the operatorsmay be free for manipulating their work. In the particular embodiments of the invention shown in my copending ap plication the treadlesare connected directly to the motors by means of flexible members and are actuated by springs in such a manner :asnorm'ally to swing the motors so that their friction pulleys are disengaged from the hand wheels of the machinesor thedriv ng belts are slaclrened, as the case maybe.

.VYhenthe effect or" the springs is overcome by pressure upon the treadles the motors will fall into position to transmit power to the machines, and the arrangements are such thatthe normal'movement imparted to the treadles will be sutlicient to slacken the flexible connections so that the motors will be -held in operative relation to the wheels of the machines'bytheir own weight independently of any eltect of the treadle springs.

The flexible connections shown in my. co-

pendi'ng application consist of cords, chains treadles are below the same,it is necessary to pass the flexible connections through apertures in the tables of the machines. The tables of sewing machines are ordinarily provided with holes to permit the passage of d riving belts for use when the machines are not driven by motors, these belts passing overxfly. wheels connected to treadles' below the tables. The holes must be located diright-position tobe used as passageways for upon the end of a bracket attached to the I frame oi the machine butin the case of cerrectly beneath the driving pulleys of the IllZtChlllBS'fillCl ordinarily will not be in the the flexible connections forming part of the motor drive arrangements of my copending application, so that it is necessary to bore special holes in the tables of the machines when the invention is applied tliereto,..Flexmrelation'to the machine by'its own weight,

ible connections such as shown in my copending application are liable to stretch'in usage andproduce alterations in the adjustment of the parts of the apparatus. It may therefore be desirable in some cases to employ a'rigid actuating co .necti'on. but in or der thatthe arrangemen, may be such as'to' permit the motor to be held in operative independently of the effect ofthe treadle ;,spring under normal conditions of opera- --t1on, 1t asnecessary to provide for a certain amount of lost-motion in this connection.

In accordance with the present invention this lost-motion connection is obtained by means of a lever mounted to swing about a pivot coinciding with the pivotal axis of the motor and one end of which is adapted to be brought into engagement with the motor to move the latter when the lever is swung in one direction by means of a connection between the other end of the lever and the treadle of the machine. This end. of the lever may be arranged so thatthe connection may pass through one of the usual belt holes in the tableot the machine, or outside of the table according to whether a belt drive or atriction drive is used. The relation of the parts is such that when the treadle is completely depressed the lever will exert no lifting effect upon the motor so that the latter will beheld in operative relation to the machine by its weight independently of any effect of the treadle spring. The arran ement does, however, permit the operator to' exercise a certain amount of control over the speed or" his machine, for, it the treadle is hot pressed downwardly to its full extent, the lever will be held in engagement with the motor andbalance the weight of the latter so that the pressure with which its friction pulley is held against the hand wheel of the machine will be lessened, or in a beltdrive is employed, the effect of the weight of the motor in producing belt tension will. be partly overcome. I In either case there will be some slip in the driving connections which will result in decreased speed of the machine. The natural condi-v tion of operation wil be such that the opera- 1 tor will'find it most convenient to hold the treadle completely depressed so as to release the lever sutlicientlv to treethe motor and permit it to beheld in operative relation with the machine by its own weight.

It "will be somewhat more tedious for the operator to holdthetreadle in partially depressed condition to produce a of the machine.

lit has been proposed to mount the motor slower speed.

of themachines that brackets cannot conven'icntly be employed. It is therefore necessary tojprovide some other arrangement for mounting the motor.

In accordance with the invention of this application the motor ismounted upon a pedestal adapted to be attached to the table of the machinein proper position with respect to the hand wheel driving pulley of themachine to bring the motor into operative relation to these parts,

In case the motor is arranged to drive the machlne by means of a friction lliO ' actuation of the treadle. visable to provide means for preventing any pulley, it is necessary that the motor fall toward the machine, \vhen the latter is to be driven, while in the, case of a .beltdrive it is necessary that the motor fall away from the machine. So farasthe treadle is concerned, it is most convenient toarrange it so that it must be depressed to releasethe motor to permit it to fall into operative relation to the machine and it is therefore necessary that the lost motion connection be attached to one or the other side of the motor according to the form of drive to beemployed. In order that the apparatus shall .possessthe greatest utility, the present invention provides 2111 211 rangemcnt whereby the. motor may be used for either oneor the other. mode of drive, simply by reversing its position with respect to the table of the machine, and the treadle connection may remain attached to the lost motion lever connection and p be passed through one of the usual belt holesin the "top of the table or pass outside of the table according to the position of the lever.

With any arrangement in which the motor is entirely disconnected from the machine when it is desired to stop the latter, the momentum of the moving parts ofthe machine will cause it .to run after the motor has been disconnected therefrom. It may therefore, be desirable to employ a brake which shall hecon'ie effective when-the motor is taken out of operative relation to the machine.

In accordance with this invention the brake is attached to the motor in such amanner that it will be. brought into engagement with the hand wheel of the machine when the I motor is swung by the spring-actuated treadle to lift its friction wheel from contact with the machine wheel or slacken the driving belt, accordi ng to the form of driveempl oyed. l

Since with the preferred arrangement of either form of drive the motor is mounted above itspivot. a: sudden release of the treadle might cause the spring to throw the motor over to the wrong side of its pivot, in which case it would not fall into operative relation to the machine upon asubsequent It is therefore. ad-

overthrow of the motor. For this purpose I make useof-the brake associated with themotor, and arrange the parts so that when the brake in engagement with the hand "IflQQl ofthe machine it acts as a stop tOllmli) the movement of the motoraand prevent it from being thrown over to the wrong side of pivot.

i The particular nature of the invention, as well as other objects and advantages thereof, will appear more clearly from a description cl certain preferred embodiments as illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in

Fig. l is an endelevation of, a sewing ma beltdrive;

anent of Fig. 3.

chine provided with amotor arranged for a h i2 isa side elevation of the apparatus OfFlg. l; I y i l F g. 3 IS an end elevation of a sewingmachine with themotor arranged fora friction drive; and

. Fig. i is a side elevation of the arrangelhe sewing machine illustrated somewhat dingrannnatically in the drawings comprises a table locarried upon standard-s ll and serving as support f'or the frame 12 which consists of a vertical portion and a horizontal port on carrying at its outer end theusual .casing within which the mechanism for reciprocating the needle is mounted, this mechanism being driven by, a shaft carrying a "lieltpiilley 13 and hand wheel :14. An electric motor 15 is provided for driving the machine. Themotor is provided with lugs 16 adapted to receive a pin 17 supported between the uprights of a pedestal 18 which .may be attached to the top of the table 10 in position to bring the motor in proper rela tion to the machine.

In the embodiment of. the invention shown in Figs 1 and 2 the shaft of the motor is provided with a pulley 19 which is connected to the pulle 1? of the machine by a belt 20. W th. this arrangement the motor must fall away from the machine to tighten the belt so that power may be transmitted from the motor to the machine.

F or the purpose of controlling the position of the motor there is provided a lever 21 preferably mounted upon the pin 17 out;

side of one of thestandards of the pedestal.

One armof the lever is bent inwardly and provided w th a projection 22 adapted to engage the motor between the lugs 16/ The position to be reached by the operators foot.

Beneath the treadle is a spring, 27 which normally raises the treadle intothe position shown in Fig. l. The arms of the lever 21 and of the treadle 26 .should be so propertione'd that when. the treadle is depressed to its maximum extent as indicated in broken lines in Fig. 1 the motorl5 will fall into the correspondingly indicated position and tighten the belt 20 sufficiently to permit power to be transmitted fromthe motor to the machine. After the motor has swung away from the machine as .tarfas it will be permitted to do by the belt, additional movement should preferably be imparted to thelever- 21 so that it may swing .free ofthe motor as indicated in broken lines in Fig. 1. Under these conditionsthe motor will beindependent of the lever, and the belt tension produced bythe weight of the motor will not'be lessened by any opposing effect ofthe treadle spring 27.

The motorwill thus drive the machine at the predetermined speed regarded as suit able for most efiicient operation. In case it is desired to lessen the speed of the machine the treadle will be lifted suificiently to swing the lever 21 into engagement with the motor and thereafter lift the motor slightly to partially overcome the effect of the weight of the motor upon. the tension of the belt. As a result of the lessened belt ten sion, there will'be' produced between it and the pulleys to which it is connected a certain amount of slip which will cause a decreased speed of operation of themachine without changing the speed of the motor by means of a rheostat or similar device.

When the treadle is released to permit the spring 27 to swing the motor toward the machine, the latter will continue to run on account of the momentum of its moving parts. In order that its speed may be checkedquickly, a brake 28, preferably con- .sisting of spring metal provided at its free the machine and be rendered inoperative'in its intended manner. .By forming the brake of spring metal it will yield slightly when brought into engagement with the hand wheel so as to prevent sudden shocks upon the motor and the moving parts of the machine. I

In the embodiment of the "invention shown in Figs. 3 and 4 the shaft of the motor is provided with a friction pulley 29 which may be brought into engagement with the hand wheel 14 to drive the machine, by allowing the motor to fall toward the machine, The movement thus required to be imparted to the motor by depression of the treadle 25 will be opposite to that required when a belt drive is employed. The apparatus is soconstructed that'it may be used for a friction drive by placing'the pedestal motor falls toward the latter.

the hand-wheel of the machine.

18 upon the table in a reversed position with the friction pulley 29 in position toengage The parts er the apparatus should preferably be so arranged and proportioned when the that the end of the lever 21 to which the rod- 24- is connected extends beyond the table'of the machine so that the-rod clears the table, and it is not necessary to provide a special hol or slot to accommodate the rod.

ll henthe motor is arranged for a'friction drive, complete depression of the treadle into the broken line position of Fig. 3 will permit the motor to fall into engagement with the hand wheel of the machine, and as in the case of the belt drive arrangement, the lever 21 should preferably be swung out of engagement with the motor, so that the friction pulley 29 will be held in engagement with the hand wheel of the machine by the weight of the motor unaffected by the treadle spring 27. Under these conditions the motor will drive the machine at the predetermined maximum speed so long as the treadle is held completely depressed position. By releasing the treadle, however, its spring may be permitted to exert some effect in overcoming the weight ofthe motor by lift ,ing the latter by means of the lever 21 so that slip may occur between the friction pulley of the motor and the hand wheel of the machine with resultant decrease in the speed of the latter.

ll'ith the friction drive arrangement of 3 and l, the brake 28 will be arranged so that it will engage the hand wheel of the machine as the motor swings away from the tter, and. will also act as a stop to limit ie outward movement of the motor and me vent it from being thrown over its pivot intoa position in which it could not subsequently fall into engagement with the hand wheel. I

The invention thus provides an arrangement for holding motors in operative relation to sewing machines, which is particularly adapted for use in connection with machines in which the frames carry mechanism which would interfere with the use of brackets, clamps or other devices for inounting the motors upon the frames of the machines. The mechanism for controlling the position of the motors permits one to utilize the usual belt holes in the tablesof the machines so that it unnecessary to bore special holes for this purpose. The inven tion further provides a lost-motion arrangement which permitsa rigid actuating connection to be used, thus avoiding the use of flexible members which might stretch, while at the same time permitting the machine to be driven under. normal conditions at maximun'i speed so that the efliciency of the operator may be maintained at the required standard. it is, however, possibleto produce changes in the speed of the machineby altering the position of themotor, but such changes require that the operator hold the treadle in an intermediate position which is not only less comfortable, but renders it more diflicult to maintain a constant speed of the machine than when the treadle is in fully depressed condition, which is in the nature of a stop position and may be maintained by the operator with comparatively little effort. In other words, the usual condition of the machine will be either one in which the driving motor is held entirely out of operative relation to the machine by the spring acting upon the treadle, orone-in which the motor is held in operative relation to the machine by its. weight independently of the spring; but it is possible to produce a third condition in which the motor is held in operative relation under the balanced effect of its weight and the force exerted by the spring.

While certain preferred embodiments of the invention have been shown and described, it will be understood that various changes in the details or construction may be made without departing from the principle of the invention as delined in the ap pended claims.

Cross reference is hereby made underthe provisions of rule 43, to copending applica- I claim:

1. In a sewing machine mounted upon a table and provided with a drivingwheel, the combination of a pedestal adapted to be attached to the table of themachine, amotor mounted to swing about an axis on the pedestal and be held in operative relation to the wheel of the machine by its own weight, a lever mounted on the pedestal and formed at one end to engage the motor, and means for automatically actuating the lever to bring its end into engagement with the motor to lift the same out of operative relation to the wheel of the machine.

2. In a sewing machine mounted upon a table and provided with a driving wheel, the combination of a pedestal adapted to be attached to the table of the machine, a motor mounted to swing about an axis on the pedestal and be held in operative relation to the wheel of the machine by its own weight, a lever mounted on the pedestal and formed at one end to engage the motor, and means for automatically actuating the lever to bring its end into engagement with the motor to lift the same out ofoperative relation to the wheel of the machine,said means being adapted to be overcome by the opera tor to release the lever so that the motor tion'Serial No. M3216, filed December 8th,

may fall into and be held in operative relation to the machine by its own weight un affected by said means.

v 3. In a sewing machine provided with a driving wheel, the combination of a pivotally mounted motor adapted to be held in operative relation to the wheel by its own weight, a lever mounted adjacent to the mo tor and adapted at one end to engage the motor, and means for automatically actuating the lever to bring its end into engagement with the motor to lift the same out of ing the lever to bring its end into engagev ment with the motor to lift the same out of operative relation to the wheel of the machine, said means being adapted to be'overcome by the operator to release the lever so that the motor may fall into and be held in operative relation to the machine by its own weight unaffected by said means.

5. In a sewing machine provided witha driving wheel, the combination of a pivotally mountedmotor adapted to be held in operative relation to the wheel by its own weight, a lever mounted to swing about a pivot coinciding with the pivot of the motor and formed at one end to engage the motor, and means for actuating the lever to bring its end into engagement with the motor to lift the same out of operative relation to the wheel of the machine.

6. In a sewing machine provided with a hand wheel and a belt pulleyand mounted upon a table having holes. therein for the passage of a driving belt, thecombination of a pivotally mounted motor adapted to be held in operative relation to the wheel and pulley by its own weight, a lever mounted adjacent the motor and formed at one end I to engage the motor, a member connected to the other end of the lever and passing through a belt hole in the table, and means for actuating the member to swing the lever into engagement with the motor to lift the same out of operative relation to the wheel of the machine.

Intestimony whereof I aiiix my signature.

' HYMAN MAIMIN. 

